Lesson 2: What’s the Emotion? The Mouth Talks.

Microexpressions are very brief changes in a person’s face that give away his/her emotional state. A number of the features on a face can be used to examine the person’s microexpressions. Do you think that some facial features are more likely to transmit emotion better than other features?

Doing the science

1. Start the Microexpressions Simulation by clicking on the "Sim" tab.
2. Study the various parts of the screen. Note the five buttons at the bottom of the screen that allow you to select the emotion portrayed by the figure’s face.
3. In this lesson, you are going to focus on the mouth of the face. Try to ignore the other facial features and only study the changes in the mouth.
4. Click the "Start" button. Watch the figure’s mouth and determine the emotion conveyed by the mouth.
5. Click on one of the appropriate emotion buttons: Happiness, Fear, Sadness, Surprise, or Anger.
6. You can select the "Show Face Again" button if you were unable to determine the face’s expression. This function repeats the expression.
7. Go through all three levels of the simulation: Easy, Moderate, and Difficult. Again, remember to only view the mouth to determine the emotion conveyed by the face.
8. Record your results in Table 1 below.